Annual Report 2010

Chair’s Introduction

General Introduction

Debt Advice Project

Housing Law

Immigration Law

Migrant Support Forum

Welfare Rights

Telephone Advice Line

Youth Homelessness Project

Finances

Management Committee & Members of Staff

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Hackney Community Law Centre8 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0PD

Telephone 020 8985 5236Fax 020 8533 2018Email info@hclc.org.ukWeb www.hclc.org.uk

contents

Of key importance to the longevity of theCentre is the appointment of a manager forthe Centre which we are now activelylooking at. This role is essential for thecontinuance of the centre.

On behalf of the Management Committee,I would like to express our appreciation andgratitude for the work done by all the Law Centre staff - on both the legal andadministrative side - and to our funders, ourvolunteers and our supporters in the localcommunity, including the Law CentresFederation.

If you believe justice should be accessiblefor all people, regardless of their economicor other status, please give us your support.

Ian Rathbone

Chair, Management Committee

2010

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chair’s introductionannual rep

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Hackney Community Law Centrecontinues to provide high qualitylegal advice and representation tosome of the most vulnerable

people in one of the most deprived areasof London.

Our team of skilled and experienced legaladvisers and support staff continue toensure that disadvantaged people are ableto gain access to their legal rights in mattersof housing, homelessness and socialservices, immigration and asylum. We haveintroduced a debt advice service incollaboration with Hackney Homes.

In terms of our finances, we have problemswith obtaining sustainable funding supportfor carrying out the level of work required tomeet the huge need of people in Hackney.This has been an ongoing problem for us. We are involved in continually trying toidentify additional sources of funding tomake even more efficient use of our limitedresources. We would appreciate help withfund raising.

Hackney Community Law Centrehas had a tough time in 2009. Theimplementation of Fixed Fees bythe Legal Services Commission in

respect of initial advice in all categories ofsocial welfare law has led to financialdifficulties which will hopefully be solvedby readjustment in 2010.

There have been significant staff changes.After 14 years at the Centre Andra Saundershas left for a permanent position with theemployment team at well known Trade Unionsolicitors Thompsons. Kathy Meade has leftfor Tower Hamlets Law Centre and Amy Greyhas returned to Refugee Migrant Justice.

We welcome some new staff members.Maggie Crowley from Asylum Aid, Paul Heronfrom Sheikh and Co and Wendy Pettifer as atemporary locum from the College of Law.

The admin team continues to provide astalwart service: Diane – Advice Line &casework, Bella – reception/head ofadministration, Cherrill – legal secretary, and Cherouk – paralegal and casework.

We thank all our external funders, particularlyof course Hackney Council for funding theAdvice Line and giving overall support.

We have developed strong links withexternal providers and provide regularoutreach advice sessions at Face2Face

Youth Advice Project in Leyton and at theHackney Migrant Centre.

We still maintain a high profile in judicialreview cases, and the repercussions of M v Slough, a Law Centre case, continue to echo down the corridors of justice.

Special thanks go to the ManagementCommittee for the continued support, andalso to Matthew Howgate, who has done a tremendous job in trying to temporarilymanage the centre on a limited amount oftime and money, for his commitment tocommunity legal services in Hackney.

We have been through a very difficult periodbut we are confident of building an effectiveCommunity Law Centre that will again be at the forefront of delivering effective qualitylegal casework and at the frontline ofcampaigning for the disadvantaged in our borough.

a general introduction to hclcha

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The project carries an income maximisationcheck on each tenant who comes for advice.This procedure has been of tremendous helpto clients, particularly those in vulnerablesituations. Where entitlement is identified,they are assisted to claim benefit such asHousing Benefit, Tax Credits, Disability LivingAllowance and other state benefits or grants.Without this advice they would not be awareof what can be claimed.

Unemployed tenants are also referred toemployment support agencies for assistancewith their CV, job search etc.

The Debt Project assists clients to understandthe difference between priority debts andnon-priority debts. With this information theyare able to set up a repayment plan throughthe support of the Debt Caseworker with theircreditors. Clients then understand how toprioritise their rent, council tax and utility billsover non-priority debts such as credit cards,unsecured loan, and catalogue debts. Clientsare able to make informed decisions abouttheir weekly/monthly expenditure using theirbudget sheet.

For those who cannot be empowered to actby themselves, the Project assists them tonegotiate repayment of their Council tax,

personal loans, credit cards, utility billarrears, catalogue, hire purchase, insurancedebts, court fines etc

The Impact of Debt Advice Project

Case study 1Ms ‘A’ from North Africa is on incomesupport. Her problems started when sheneeded to pay back some money she hadborrowed. To do this, she put £150 plus on a credit card she had for a while. Instead ofsolving the problem, her debts started tomount up. And she could not make herweekly contributions to her rent.

In the midst of this, her Housing Benefit wasreduced due to a maximum non-dependantdeduction being applied. Her 19 year olddaughter who still lived at home refused towork or claim benefit!

The client found it difficult to buy food andcater for her children’s needs, let alone payoff debts on top of that. Without enoughcash to spend, she found herself becomingoverdrawn at the bank: the bank charged her £25 on every unauthorised payment.

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Introduction The Centre runs a Debt Advice project onbehalf of Hackney Homes. The projectprovides free, independent, impartial andconfidential debt advice to Hackney Homestenants who have debt and benefitproblems. It offers advice to tenants who areexperiencing financial hardship or debtproblems usually caused by negative lifeevents such as relationship breakdown,illness or loss of employment and otherfactors. Advice sessions are held on allotteddays at the five Hackney HomesNeighbourhood Offices, Monday to Thursdaybetween 10.30am and 3.30pm.

Gains of the Debt Advice projectThe project has had a positive impact on theamount of arrears collected by HackneyHomes. This has been through successfulactions taken on behalf of clients whichresults in favourable housing benefitdecisions resulting in backdated payments,lump sum payments to tenants andincreased regular payments of rent bytenants by rent payment arrangement. Since the inception in November 2006, over 2000 clients have been advised through the Debt Advice Project.

Ms A deposited all her jewellery, worth morethan £3,000, at a Pawn Shop. On thestrength of this she was given a loan of only£650. When the interest was applied theloan of £650 quickly increased to £1,000. Ontop of this she owed £220 to the GasCompany, and £750 to a credit card.

We helped Ms A address her situation andworked closely to increase her financialcapabilities, focusing on financial planning,budgeting and negotiating a repaymentarrangement for her . Whilst Ms A wishes shehad gone for help earlier, she now feels moreconfident that she can manage her situation better.

She has now prioritised her rent paymentsand has generally learnt to redirect herspending and to work with the little that shehas. Ms A is becoming more optimistic aboutwhat she might achieve in the future. Sheplans to further her education. Ultimately, she hopes to get a full time job, stopclaiming benefit, and get out of the debt trap she felt she was in.

Case study 2Ms W is a single parent recently separatedfrom her partner. She had rent electricity,

telephone, and water arrears. In total herdebts stood at £14000+. She was managingon a low income of £538.09 per month(Income Support and Child Tax Credit).

Initially we discussed budgeting tips with Ms W. We contacted the electricity companyand arranged a reduction of the £20 perweek direct deductions from the installedpre-payment meter to £5. We also liaisedwith the telephone company who providedpayment cards.

With this arrangement in place, Ms W foundit much easier to manage her finances and is now able to make the expected weeklycontributions of £18 to her rent account – thus avoiding possession action

Case study 3Harry is 47, married with children. He washealthy, he had a job. While his partner tookcare of their children, he paid all his bills on time

Then everything changed. He became adiabetic, had two heart attacks, and lost hisjob. He fell into arrears in the rent, counciltax, credit cards, utility bills and incurredbank charges.

He was not conversant with benefitprocedures and did not respond to letterswithin time limits.

We assisted Harry to appeal a non-favourable Housing Benefit decision andsucceeded in having 3 months backdatedpayment paid into his rent account. We alsoapplied to the electricity company for a grantto help towards the bill. He was awarded agrant of £230 – clearing that debt!

Harry received financial advice that equippedhim with money management skills for nowand the future

FeedbackA client who was suffering from long termrent arrears was about to be evicted from hishome. He was also suffers from depression.

The Project assisted the client to resolve hisESA claim and assisted with claiming DLA.This client expressed his immensesatisfaction about the nature of our serviceand ongoing available support in respect ofhis money management matters, and wouldlike to see the continuation of such a service.

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Since our last report there has been somepositive developments for tenants by way of legislation.

After many years of uncertainty forthousands of former council tenants who had become tolerated trespassers, theHousing and Regeneration Act 2008 resultedin them becoming secure tenants again fromMay 2009. This is good news to many oftenants in Hackney. As a direct result of thisthey have now regained their rights to haverepairs carried out, succession rights, andthe right to buy.

Housing Association tenants, who hadsimilarly become tolerated trespassers, had already had their assured tenanciesreinstated as a result of the decision inKnowsley Housing Trust v White decided in December 2008.

We also welcome the introduction (in April2007) of the Residential Tenancy DepositProtection legislation requiring landlords in the private rented sector to protect deposits with one of the recognised licensing schemes. One consequence of the legislation is that a Notice given by a landlord prior to making a claim forpossession is not valid while the landlord

has failed to protect a deposit paid inaccordance with the rules.

Many tenants in the private rented sectorhave faced a barrier in attempting to receivetheir deposits back after their tenancy hasended. Often landlords have used the factthat they themselves have kept the depositas a weapon against the tenant. Thankfullythis is now limited and this is a valuablepiece of legislation for private tenants.

It is a shame that more progressive pieces of legislation, like this, have not beenintroduced.

Legal aid was a fundamental part of theWelfare State introduced 60 years ago, amajor concession won by working classpeople. Despite this, the threat to Legal Aidfunding continues, as sadly the LSC seemsdetermined to cut, reform and then cut andreform further.

Fixed Fees were introduced in October 2007.Further commissioning is now proposed fromOctober 2010 for Civil Legal Aid.

The changes that are proposed by the LSCto Civil Legal Aid will come into force fromapproximately October 2010. The

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housing law unit reportannual rep

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The housing unit has continued toprovide specialist housing adviceat the Law Centre. Our work isprimarily carried out under our

franchise with the Legal ServicesCommission; other work is carried outunder public funding, and some on apro-bono basis.

The bulk of our work over the previousperiod has centered on homelessness issues particularly those of young people and migrants and defending tenants fromrepossession of their homes.

We have also dealt with many disrepaircases - this despite the Decent HomesProgramme.

As a Law Centre we actively organise theHousing Possession Duty Scheme atClerkenwell and Shoreditch County Courtand we thank our local partners forcontinuing to assist in this.

It has been a busy period and a high volumeof casework has been taken on, carriedforward and resolved by our small team. Thisreflects that it is becoming increasingly moredifficult to find appropriate specialist legaladvisers and solicitors to refer people to.

requirements of the new ’contract’ insiststhat any organisation or solicitors firmproviding specialist housing advice shouldalso provide welfare benefits and debtadvice.

Fortunately HCLC is well placed to be able toensure that a contract for social welfare lawis secured as we have the necessary

specialised legal skills at the Law Centre tocover welfare rights and debt law. Hopefullywe will be successful in securing the widercontracts.

However, even if we are successful inobtaining a social welfare contract, it doesnot guarantee our long-term survival. HCLCruns not just on the grant aid from thecouncil and the money from the LSC but thehard work of its paid and volunteer staff whowork long hours, for relatively modest wagesto ensure the service continues. Thequestion remains whether this can beenough to maintain such a crucial LawCentre and a crucial service?

Case studyMrs D was faced with being on the street.She was in temporary accommodation butwas likely to be evicted from this becauseher rent arrears were over £40,000. We mether during the County Court Possession Dutyday at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch CountyCourt. Not surprisingly we were unable atthat stage - having been instructed 10 minsbefore going into court - from preventing theLocal Authority from obtaining outrightpossession.

We referred her back to the HomelessPerson Unit (HPU). The HPU made a decisionthat although Mrs D was homeless, in priorityshe was intentionally homeless.

We challenged that decision by way of as.202 review - this was also refused. We thenappealed to the County Court under s.204.At this stage we were effectively trying tobuy time.

During this period we made freshrepresentations to Hackney Council withregard to her housing benefit. Followingdetailed representations to them, and despiteonly backdating of housing benefit beinglimited to 6 months, we detailed how herHousing Benefit application was dealt withineffectively. As a result £40,000 was paidinto her old rent account.

We were then able to agree to withdraw thes.204 appeal, on the basis that Mrs D ishoused in temporary accommodation againunder s.193 and that the council accepts aduty to her.

Mrs D is now in supported temporaryaccommodation awaiting a permanent offer of a council home.

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counts of possession of class A drugs withintent to supply and of possessing aprohibited weapon. He was convicted in2005 of possession of a firearm andprohibited ammunition. A deportation orderwas made against him in 2008 under section3 (5) of the Immigration Act 1971. His appealagainst that order was dismissed.

Held:In JO’s case the Tribunal had found that hisfamily life in the UK was tenuous andmarginal and he was a young single manwith no partner or children. He had beenassessed as posing a medium risk of causingserious harm to the public. The Tribunal hadonly dealt with JO’s private life cursorily.However, looking at the determination as awhole, the Tribunal had directed itselfcorrectly and there was no material error oflaw. JO’s appeal was dismissed.

Important principle established: The Home Secretary would have to showvery serious reasons to justify the removal,on the basis of a criminal conviction, of asettled migrant who had spent the majorpart of his/her childhood in the UnitedKingdom. If it would interfere with the

Convention right to respect for his/herprivate and family life.

Wider Public InterestHCLC is currently seeking to persuade theSupreme Court to grant permission to appealthe decision with the object of achieving aclear statement of the law because theEnglish Courts and Tribunal have a trackrecord of not taking the private life analysisseriously.

Other cases studies Miss C came to the UK as a minor to join herfamily. She initially lived with her parents andthen into care of social services following hermother’s removal from the UK and breakdown in her relationship with her father. Weapplied for leave to be granted to Miss C onthe basis of the then 7 year children policyand Article 8 of the European ConventionHuman Rights. Miss C was granted indefiniteleave to remain.

Miss S, an overstayer had two children fromher relationship with a British national. Weassisted in registering her two children asBritish Citizens and made representations forher to remain on the basis of the contact the

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immigration unit reportannual rep

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The immigration team at HCLCconsists of Yvonne Stevens, MaggieCrowley and Hilton von Herbert. Wecover all aspects of immigration,

nationality and asylum law. Throughout thepast year we have continued to assist usersof the centre to remain in the UK. We havedealt with a wide variety of cases such asapplications outside of the immigrationrules, Article 8 Human Rights applications,applications on the grounds of health,compassionate applications, marriage,student, asylum and EEA nationalapplications. We have challenged decisionsin the High Court and Court of Appeal.

We provide specialist immigration advice viathe telephone advice line and we alsoprovide training for community groups.

Important caseWe acted in the Court of Appeal case of JO (Uganda) v SSHD [2010] EWCA Civ 10.

Facts:JO born in Uganda in 1982 and moved to theUK when he was four years old. He wasgranted indefinite leave to remain in 1995. In 2002 he was convicted of a number of

father had with the children despite theirrelationship ending. Miss S was granted 3 years discretionary leave to remain.

Miss B was subject to deportationproceedings and applied to remain oncompassionate grounds in 1998. There wasno further action by the UK Border Agencyand Miss B remained in the UK. Freshrepresentations were submitted to the UKBorder Agency as Miss B had by then beenin the UK for 14 years and had a child. Shewas granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Miss T overstayed with three children.Representations were made under the old 7 year children policy before its withdrawal.The application was rejected with no right ofappeal. Further representations were madeto issue an immigration decision whichwould give an appeal right together withfurther fresh evidence. UK Border agencyaccepted the representations and grantedMiss T and her children indefinite leave toremain.

Mrs S applied to remain as a student and her application was refused. We appealedthe decision and the Tribunal decided thatthe UK Border Agency should reconsider hercase. Her husband, Mr S applied for further

discretionary leave on the grounds of health,but his application was rejected. Weappealed the decision for Mr S to remain asa dependant of his wife. The tribunal found inhis favour that he had established a privateand family life in the UK and he was grantedfurther discretionary leave. They also found itwas unreasonable to expect Ms S to leaveand apply for entry clearance. However, MissS was granted further leave as a student, butonly for 2 months.

Further application was made for her toremain as a dependant of her husband. Shewas granted discretion leave.

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Yvonne Stevens has been the longestserving member of staff at the HackneyCommunity Law Centre. She started in 1989 as a legal secretary.

She was subsequently appointed legaladviser and went on to study part-timeAccess to Law at Hackney CommunityCollege.

Yvonne progressed to a law degree atthe University of North London and thenwent on to the College of Law tocomplete her Legal Practice Course.She qualified as a solicitor in 2004.

Hackney Community Law Centre fully supported Yvonne throughout her progress andin doing so showed that we are supportive of our staff in their career progression.

Yvonne has worked in both the Housing/Comunity Care unit, and the Immigration Unit.However, she now only specialises in immigration, asylum and nationality law.

She was the solicitor who brought the important case of JO Uganda v Secretary of

State in the Court of Appeal [2010] EWCA Civ 10 regarding deportation of long settledmigrants You can read the case study under the immigration unit report.

Yvonne has expressed her gratitude to the Law Centre for its support throughout herstudies and enabling her to qualify as a solicitor, in particular, ex-members of staff,Carol Blakemore and Angela Jackman. They encouraged her to take the initial stepswhich led to a career in law.

long service

For example an Ethiopian journalist who was an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience was helped to obtain suitableaccommodation when joined by his wife and2 young children after a short spell livingtogether in one small room.

A Congolese woman with a severely disabledchild with an outstanding application forleave to remain in the UK on humanitariangrounds successfully appealed against anUKBA decision that she be dispersed outsideLondon and was allowed to stay here so shecan continue to access the numerousagencies already familiar with and assistingher in the care of her daughter.

We are currently at Judicial Review stage ina case involving s.21 National Assistance Actand the duties of a London council to theasylum seeker. We are hoping that this casewill clarify some of the issues involving thetype of support that is owed to an asylumseeker with complex mental health problems.

The Centre also provides delicious homecooked food and advice on benefitproblems. A health care professional is onhand to deal with medical problems and it ishoped that an ESOL class will shortly begin.

For more details about Hackney Migrant Centre link to:www.hackneymigrantcentre.org.uk

or contact them at: info@hackneymigrantcentre.org.uk

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The Law Centre is involved withmigrant support on a day to daybasis with on going legal caseworkand representation.

Many of our clients come directly to the Law Centre to challenge issues with regardto their failure to obtain accommodation orfinancial support from the UK Border, which they are entitled to.

Law Centre staff are also actively involvedwith providing advice and casework supportat the Hackney Migrant Centre (HMC). Wehave supported HMC since its inception in 2007.

Law Centre staff have consistently providedhigh quality legal advice in the areas of bothsocial housing and immigration law at theWednesday afternoon support sessions at St.Mary’s Church Hall in Stoke Newington.

Between 5 and 10 migrants and asylumseekers – often very vulnerable and withouta place to stay – are advised every weekabout housing and immigration matters.

Many cases have been taken on by the LawCentre with successful outcomes.

“If the next 10 years did for the poor whatthe 1980s did for the rich, that would bringthe UK within touching distance of the childpoverty goals.”

UN Human Development Report 2005

Over the last 5 years there doesnot appear to have been anymovement to reduce poverty orwealth inequality. Since 1997

there has been a massive increase in statespending on benefits and tax credits forlower income families. At 2006/07 prices,this went up from £18.3 billion a year in1997 to £30.6 billion ten years later.

Yet, despite this, a new 460 page report fromthe National Equality Panel shows that thewealth of the richest 10 per cent is now 100times that of the poorest 10 per cent.Indeed, reports from the government’s ownDepartment of Works and Pensions (DWP)state that one in five people is living inpoverty, many of whom go without basicnecessities such as a warm coat and decentshoes. As a result poor children aredisadvantaged even before they are born. A child born into poverty is more likely toweigh less at birth, and is twice as likely todie before his or her first birthday, or to leave

school without qualifications, than one froma more affluent family.

Poverty in HackneyLondon is the sixth richest city in the world,provides 20 per cent UK 's GDP and is one ofthe most expensive cities to live in worldwide.Yet alongside prosperity lives poverty. 4 in 10(or 650,000) London children live in poverty,12 per cent above the national average. Childpoverty levels in inner London boroughs arehigher still; more than one in every two innerLondon children live in poverty. Indeed,London has the highest proportion ofchildren living in income poverty (afterhousing costs) of any region or country inGreat Britain.

Moreover, whilst standards have been raisednationally, with over 600,000 children living inthe UK having been lifted out of poverty,child poverty in London has remainedstubbornly at this level since 2000. Childpoverty is also more acute in London, withfar more children in the lowest 10 per cent ofincome distribution and the highest rate of severe child poverty in the UK.

295 (39 per cent) of London’s wards arefound in the most deprived 20 per cent of

wards in England , with over 2.7 millionLondoners living in these wards.Furthermore, the London Borough ofHackney is one of the ten of most deprived boroughs in England.

Poverty impacts on the health, educationand life chances of considerable numbers of children, consigning them to remain in acycle of poverty which takes them frompoverty in childhood, to becoming a parentof poor children. This inter-generational effectappears to be escalating; children in the UKface higher risks of longer-term negativeimpacts of childhood poverty than in manyother countries

Aside from the moral obligation to end childpoverty, there is also a financial one. Childpoverty costs Londoners approximately £4.9billion every year incurred from paying forservices required as a result of the fall-out ofchildren growing up poor, to foregone taxesand higher benefits resulting from reducedfuture employment prospects of those whoexperience childhood poverty.

Our workWe specialise in preparing submissions forclients to assist them present their case at

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Case Study OneMrs C was faced with eviction from hertemporary accommodation because of£13,000 rent arrears on her s.193 temporaryaccommodation. We secured a copy of herHB file. We noticed that they had closed herHousing Benefit claim prematurely andwithout notifying the client.

Representations were made to Haringeycouncil threatening legal action for theirfailure to act reasonably and responsibly. A payment of £13,000 in housing benefit was made within days.

Case Study OneLegislation allowing asylum seekers to claimbackdated income support if they receivedrefugee status – Regulation 21ZA IncomeSupport (General) Regulations 1987 wasrepealed in June 2007. Mr.B was an asylumseeker who was granted leave to remain inthe UK prior to June 2007. However hisdocumentation was not sent to him forseveral months after June 2007.

He applied for income support andrequested that his benefit be backdated tothe date of asylum. Jobcentre Plus refusedthis, because the request for backdating wasmade after June 2007.

We complained on his behalf to the HomeOffice. Our complaints were rejected.Following a complaint to the ParliamentaryOmbudsman, they found against the HomeOffice for maladministration, and Mr.B wascompensated his Income support anddamages from the Home Office.

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first tier tribunals (ftt). We also have theknowledge and expertise to assist clientschallenge decisions from the the ftt to theUpper Tribunal.

Wherever possible we try to resolve clients’disputes without recourse to tribunals andare often able to persuade the Departmentfor Work and Pensions, The Tax Credit Officeand Hackney council to revise their decisionswhere we can show their original decisionwas flawed.

As well as helping to resolve particularproblems which clients present with, we alsouse our knowledge and experience todiagnose and identify issues that the clientwas unaware of.

This can often lead to us helping people tosuccessfully claim benefits they didn’t knowthey were entitled to and in some cases tochallenge decisions, which they hadpreviously assumed were correct. This cango some way to alleviate the worst excessesof poverty.

Much of our work in benefits is linked closelyto our casework to prevent repossession ofclient’s homes.

The Advice Line is unique in theLondon Borough of Hackney. It actsas an immediate point of contact forpeople with legal problems. So it is

a very valuable service and can therefore bevery busy. The Law Centre relies totally onpublic funding and the Advice Line is paidfor by Hackney Council and we thank themfor their continued support.

The Advice Line is one of the ways that the public can access the Law Centre. Itsupports the reception ‘drop in’, second-tierreferrals (outside agencies such as theCitizens Advice Bureau and Social Services)and some of the outreach work the LawCentre undertakes.

Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) isalso part of the Public Service Promise (PSP).The PSP is an initiative by Hackney Councilto bring all government and communityorganisations together, so collectively, wehave a responsibility to do our best whendealing with the public. We have anobligation to ensure we deal with the publicin terms of the quality of the service we offer and where we do not offer that service,that we are as helpful as possible when sign-posting.

The Advice Line is not strictly legal advice.Where possible, we take calls aboutwhatever it is that is of importance to the caller.

The level of assistance is generalist and theaim is to operate the service with a mixtureof volunteers and Law Centre staff. It istherefore not possible to deal with complexand in-depth legal queries over thetelephone.

In order to assess whether or not the case issuitable for us, the adviser will need tosensitively explore the problem. This couldsometimes cause apprehension, as the callerdoes not initially know whether they will beaccepted or not. Rest assured that thetelephone line is a confidential service andno other agencies or organisations arecontacted unless the caller has asked for orconsented for this to be done.

The Advice Line is also the best way toaccess the Evening Advice Sessions (pro-bono) held on Tuesday evenings. The lineoperates from Monday – Friday 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. It also supports the HIAC networkof advisers in Hackney, which includes thelocal Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Age

Concern, Hoxton Legal Advice Trust andHackney Marsh Partnership.

In recent months we have regularlyexceeded the 35 hours per month target in telephone advice.

Case ExampleWe took a call from Devon (via the AdviceLine). This lady and her husband wereinundated with debts and her husband hadsuffered serious stress-related illness as aresult of this. Once the referral was made tothe Evening Advice Session Team (EAS), theymade an exception in this case and acted forthe client, even though she never came tothe Law Centre. The EAS team never litigates– they only provide one-off advice to peopleseen in person by a letter of advice.

StatisticsIn December 2009, despite days off forholidays our total number of calls was 121, a total of 23.34 hours talk time.

In November 2009 we answered 169 callsand hit 35.36 hours in talk time!

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telephone advice line report

information with regards to issues that canarise with homelessness, such as access to welfare benefits.

Case Example A 19 year old with mental health problemscame to seek advice regarding his housingsituation. He was without a fixed abode forover 18 months and was unsuccessful infinding anyone who could help.

Prior to seeing us he had lived with hisfather, although prior to his 16th birthday, thefather abandoned the property and he wasleft to fend for himself. Unfortunately, theproperty was repossessed by the counciland the client was left street homeless. As a result, his physical and mental healthdeteriorated and he survived living andsleeping rough.

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The Youth Homelessness Project is anoutreach project aimed at helpingyoung people (16-21) with legaladvice and assistance in any of the

five areas of social welfare in which we work.

The Project’s aim is to make sure that everyyoung person in London has access to thelegal advice they need.

The situation in general is that whilst manyyoung people need legal advice they don’taccess it through the mainstream adultservice. This can be for a variety of reasons,from lack of awareness to mistrust of adults.Specialist provision is needed to effectivelymeet young people’s advice needs. Thisincludes delivering advice in young peoplefriendly settings, training professionalsworking with young people in identifyinglegal issues and establishing good referralnetworks.

We therefore provide outreach sessionsthrough Face2Face at Connexions to helpyoung people who have found themselveswithout a home due to personalcircumstances such as relationshipbreakdown, abuse or neglect. We are able tooffer confidential legal advice to help themunderstand their rights as well as practical

youth homelessness projectDespite several attempts no local authoritywas prepared to assist him as a homelessand vulnerable young person. Following ourintervention we forced the local council toaccept an initial duty towards him. He iscurrently in temporary accommodationpending the outcome of his homelessnessapplication which is being assessed byWaltham Forest Council

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Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ending 31st March 2009

INCOMING RESOURCES FROMGENERATED FUNDSVoluntary incomeInvestment income

INCOMING RESOURCES FROMCHARITABLE ACTIVITIESProvision of legal services & advice

Total incoming resources

RESOURCES EXPENDEDCharitable activities Provision of legal services & adviceGovernance cost

Total resources expended

NET INCOMING (OUTGOING) RESOURCES

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought foraward

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

UnrestrictedFunds (£)

14,7351,797

379,124

395,656

395,6213,900

399,521

[3,865]

32,618

28,753

RestrictedFunds (£)

––

29,889

29,889

23,642–

23,642

6,247

4,500

10,747

Total2009 (£)

14,7351,797

409,013

425,545

419,2633,900

423,163

2,382

37,118

39,500

Total2008 (£)

19,1312,783

470,915

492,829

436,9703,900

440,870

51,959

[14,841]

37,118

Balance Sheet at 31st March 2009

FIXED ASSETSTangible assets

CURRENT ASSETSWork in progressDebtorsCash at bank and in hand

CREDITORSAmounts falling Due within one year

NET CURRENT ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

CREDITORSAmounts falling Due after more thanone year

NET ASSETS

FUNDSUnrestricted fundsRestricted funds

TOTAL FUNDS

UnrestrictedFunds (£)

5,645

66,18011,27028,321

105,771

[80,315]

25,456

31,101

[2,348]

28,753

RestrictedFunds (£)

–

––

10,747

10,747

–

10,747

10,747

–

10,747

2009 TotalFunds (£)

5,645

66,18011,27039,068

116,518

[80,315]

36,203

41,848

[2,348]

39,500

28,75310,747

39,500

2009 TotalFunds (£)

5,451

28,42036,67852,258

117,356

[73,665]

43,691

49,142

[12,024]

37,118

32,6184,500

37,118

15

our management committee, staff and volunteers

HCLC Management Committee

We are extremely grateful to ourManagement Committee members, all ofwhom are volunteers:

● Ian Rathbone (Chair)● Francesca Delany (Secretary)● Kirsten Heaven (Treasurer)● Lawrence Abe ● Veronica Akinseye-Fasan ● Ruth Appleton ● Cllr Deniz Oguzkanli ● Jide Osantintolu ● Megan Redmond ● Alhaji Sesay ● John Stewart (chair, 2008-09)● Deen Tiyamiyu ● Mulinda Xavier

Thanks also to former MC members:

● John Page● Wendy Pettifer● Sonia Gomez● Rebecca Owens

HCLC Staff

Our Staff:

● Matthew Howgate (temporary manager)

● Nathaniel Mathews (solicitor)● Yvonne Stevens (solicitor)● Wendy Pettifer (solicitor)● Paul Heron (solicitor)● Maggie Crowley

(immigration caseworker)● Hilton von Herbert

(immigration caseworker)● Hope Olugbola (debt caseworker)● Diane Morrison

(advice line/caseworker)● Chorouk El-Adib (caseworker)● Olu Adunuga (finance officer)● Bella Donnelly (administrator)● Cherrill Connerty (legal secretary)● Kim Sin (administrator)

Thank You to Staff who have recently leftfor their contribution to HCLC :

● Kathy Meade● Karen Jones● Andra Saunders● Amy Gray

Volunteer Programme

The Law Centre has formulated a structuredvolunteer programme.

The purpose of this programme is to givevolunteers work experience and exposure todifferent aspects of working in a busy innercity Law Centre. This type of experience isunique and definitely benefits our volunteersin terms of gaining paid work in the legalfield in the future.

Volunteers are allocated to a department inthe Law Centre, and many are given tasksand responsibilities that develop skills andconfidence.

As well as volunteers, HCLC offers schoolwork-experience placements to Hackneyschool students, or sometimes from outsidethe Hackney area.

We are only able to offer places to a handfulof school students each year but they haveall had a real taste of working life and haveenjoyed the experience. One school studentnoted “... I learnt a lot of new things andgained more confidence ...sometimes I thinkabout you whenever I need help in talking tosomeone because you made me answer thephone after the first 10 minutes, it waswicked.”

HCLC also works with NVQ learners throughRathbone Hackney and Landmark Training

Stratford in order that students gain thenecessary work experience to go with theirNVQ qualifications. We also liaise withWorking Links for those coming back intowork who want to gain working experience.

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■ Languages SpokenEnglish is the main language spoken at the LawCentre although we can arrange for interpreterswhere necessary.

■ StatusWe maintain a friendly environment and approach to all of our clients. We endeavour to make ourclients feel welcome and confident that their legal affairs will be dealt with in a competent and confidential manner.

● We provide first class advocacy, representation,advice and assistance by providing the followingservices:

● Representation in the County Courts, ImmigrationAppeal Tribunal, Social Security Appeals Tribunal

● We liaise with the Local Authority and otherexternal agencies.

● We provide Duty Scheme/Possession list at Shoreditch County Court.

● We provide outreach sessions at Face to Face in Leyton, and the Hackney Migrant Forum.

Hackney Community Law Centre8 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0PD

Telephone 020 8985 5236Fax 020 8533 2018Email info@hclc.org.ukWeb www.hclc.org.uk

hackney community law centre

design

● kavita graphics ● dennis@kavitagraphics.co.uk

Annual Report 2010